Innovative technologies

To the Editor:

This is in response to a letter regarding loans to Solyndra Solar and Fisker Automotive. The overall reports on the Department of Energy loans are positive. You can look at the Brookings Institute investigation of the program (Brookings is a private nonprofit devoted to independent research). The program has provided about 60,000 jobs to the economy, clean energy to the grid, decreasing dependency on oil.

This loan program has allowed motivated American companies to implement innovative technologies that would have been hard to come by through conventional loans. Reports show that this program is working. Solyandra is the exception to the rule, just making it a talking point for people with political motives.

Fisker is an American company that used its loan to engineer technology for an electric car. It is manufactured in Finland with the intent to move manufacturing to the U.S. in 2014. It is anyone’s guess whether it will happen, as the first car has met with mixed success. However, do we really think we will be driving cars powered by oil 100 years from now? So let’s get started on the process of developing what’s next.

This is OK with me. This is how progress works. We try new things, some fail, but through this process we develop technology that works. The fact that government makes itself available to help business move forward with new technology is OK with me. It is an appropriate use of my tax dollars.

Overall, loans are being paid back. We have moved ahead in finding more renewable sources of energy.